Twitter will soon let you publish articles, says Elon Musk

Twitter owner Elon Musk recently tweeted his platform will soon enable users to publish articles. On July 18, 2023, social media user Fausto Chou noticed the website renamed its Notes section “Articles” without warning. Musk elaborated on the feature in response, saying it will let “users post very long, complex articles with mixed media.”

The social media platforms have been competing as Meta released Threads as a competitor to Twitter. Also, more users have migrated to lesser-known platforms like Mastodon and Bluesky. The new “Articles” feature could help the platform attract more users. More importantly, writers could use it to jumpstart their online careers.

This article will cover what the public knows about the new article publishing feature. Next, I will discuss how you could fully utilize this upcoming feature.

What we know about the new Twitter feature

This will allow users to post very long, complex articles with mixed media. You could publish a book if you want.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 18, 2023

The Articles feature would be an upgraded version of the Notes feature that launched in June 2022, ahead of Musk’s Twitter acquisition. TechCrunch explained it is an experiment conducted with writers from various countries.

These include Ghana, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The writers received access to a new “Write” tab, where they could write and access Twitter Notes.

Their profiles also have a Notes tab that shows their long-form content to their followers and other Twitter users. Also, Notes allowed uploading media and rich formatting.

The feature lets users embed videos, photos, GIFS, and tweets. Moreover, writers could tweet their Notes to share published articles with followers.

People haven’t heard further updates about the feature since the Tesla CEO bought Twitter. The news outlet Platformer said, “Twitter’s four-month-old Notes product, which allowed long-form writing on the platform, has been put on an indefinite “pause.”

TechCrunch noted Musk halted other reading-and-writing-related Twitter projects. It cited examples like ad-free articles for subscribers and a planned newsletter Platform called Revue.

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Elon Musk’s tweet confirms he will pursue such features again. He said, “This will allow users to post very long complex articles mixed media. You could publish a book if you want.”

It seems people would need a Twitter Blue subscription to maximize the feature. Free users may only post 4,000 characters, but paying ones could publish 10,000.

The monthly subscription might enable you to post longer texts. The Twitter owner did not share more information about the Articles feature at the time of writing.

However, he shared further details about the new monetization feature. Musk announced creators may apply to earn money from their content.

How can the Articles feature help writers?

Photo Credit: foreignpolicy.com

Elon Musk has been changing Twitter in ways that many people don’t like. Fortunately, his new Articles feature could be a boon for aspiring authors and writers.

The Chief Twit announced, “You will receive whatever money we receive, so that’s 70% for subscriptions on iOS & Android (they charge 30%) and ~92% on web (could be better, depending on payment processor).”

“After the first year. iOS & Android fees drop to 15%, and we will add a small amount on top of that, depending on volume. We will also help promote your work. Our goal is to maximize creator prosperity.”

Often, earning money from writing requires working for a publication, marketing, and other companies. On the other hand, you can become a freelancer and get jobs from UpWork and similar platforms.

The upcoming Articles feature could become a faster way to gain online attention for your craft. After all, Twitter has millions of active daily users, significantly boosting your chances of attracting readers.

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Even better, the platform would let you earn from your content directly. However, Twitter must prevent users from flooding the website with AI-generated content.

Search engines flag AI-generated content as spam, reducing their visibility on online search results. Consequently, an excessive amount could make it harder for all Twitter users to benefit from the upcoming feature.

More importantly, the platform must safeguard the intellectual property rights of its users. That will prove that Elon Musk is fulfilling his promise of a “shared digital town square” that promotes free speech.

Conclusion

Elon Musk confirmed Twitter is working on an Articles feature after a user noticed its development. It would allow people to publish blogs and articles.

The social media owner hasn’t shared more details about the upcoming project at the time of writing. Nevertheless, it could help more people earn money from writing.

Perhaps Twitter could help them build online careers, too. We must wait awhile for more details. Meanwhile, check out more digital tips and trends at Inquirer Tech.